- Joined
- Dec 4, 2002
- Messages
- 1,350
A fellow knifeknut and I were chatting about SOG's the other day, and how neat the "ancient" SOG Tech I and Tech II models are.
And I had this wild momentary vision that I actually had 2 SOG Tech II's in my collection. You might think a person would never lose sight of such a thing, but I couldn't honestly remember. I know I do have a Tech I and a Tech II .... but 2 Tech II's ??
So the next day I went to my box-o-knives and began pulling out knife after knife after knife, various and different brands, most different yet all the same in one special way: each is a fixed blade. No folders for me, I like fixed blades. SOG, Randall, Kabar, Kelsey Creek, Koster, Hankins, even a couple of very very old Finnish puukko's given to me by my dad.
Well, guess what ?? I actually do have 2 SOG Tech II's !! The first one: I pulled it from it's SOG nylon sheath and ran the edge up my forearm .... and the hair popped right off, it was/is still razory sharp after being in quiet storage for more months than I care to think about. I checked my spreadsheet to discover I bought it way back in March 2003. It was the fifth SOG I bought.
So I checked the second Tech II. I pulled it from it's SOG leather sheath and it wasn't as razory sharp. So I stropped it on the mousepad I keep fastened to my workbench. 30 seconds of stropping and it too became razory sharp, easily deforesting another section of forearm. I checked the spreadsheet: I had bought it in January 2008. I am kinda/sorta remembering the fellow I bought it from wasn't sure what model it was, but I bought it anyway .... and in one of those cosmic incredibilities of fantastic fortune it turned out to be a Tech II.
That left the Tech I. After removal from it's SOG leather sheath it was razory sharp, all too easily removing another swatch of arm forest. The spreadsheet says I bought it in January 2003, and was the third SOG I bought.
And what a triplet, each different in curious ways:
-- the Tech I shows the "SOG Specialty Knives" stamp near the guard, but no SOG Company location stamp below it. On the other side of the blade is stamped "Seki - Japan".
-- one Tech II shows "S.M. CA" below the "SOG Specialty Knives" stamp. On the other side is only the "Seki - Japan" stamp. (S.M. means Santa Monica, CA. Mr SOG himself would have to date this one, it goes way back in ancient history).
-- the other Tech II shows "EDM WA" below the "SOG Specialty Knives" stamp. On the other side is the "Seki - Japan" stamp, and above that a large capital "S".
And I am of the opinion that the Tech II is the second-best looking SOG, the first-best being the Recon Bowie. The Tech I looks good, but the extra length of the Tech II gives it that "special something" in the looks department.
Cheers,
Carl
p.s. and sorry, I have no camera to take pictures. Anyway, I'm sure there's some pics out there, some diligent Google'ing will surely find some great pics.
And I had this wild momentary vision that I actually had 2 SOG Tech II's in my collection. You might think a person would never lose sight of such a thing, but I couldn't honestly remember. I know I do have a Tech I and a Tech II .... but 2 Tech II's ??
So the next day I went to my box-o-knives and began pulling out knife after knife after knife, various and different brands, most different yet all the same in one special way: each is a fixed blade. No folders for me, I like fixed blades. SOG, Randall, Kabar, Kelsey Creek, Koster, Hankins, even a couple of very very old Finnish puukko's given to me by my dad.
Well, guess what ?? I actually do have 2 SOG Tech II's !! The first one: I pulled it from it's SOG nylon sheath and ran the edge up my forearm .... and the hair popped right off, it was/is still razory sharp after being in quiet storage for more months than I care to think about. I checked my spreadsheet to discover I bought it way back in March 2003. It was the fifth SOG I bought.
So I checked the second Tech II. I pulled it from it's SOG leather sheath and it wasn't as razory sharp. So I stropped it on the mousepad I keep fastened to my workbench. 30 seconds of stropping and it too became razory sharp, easily deforesting another section of forearm. I checked the spreadsheet: I had bought it in January 2008. I am kinda/sorta remembering the fellow I bought it from wasn't sure what model it was, but I bought it anyway .... and in one of those cosmic incredibilities of fantastic fortune it turned out to be a Tech II.
That left the Tech I. After removal from it's SOG leather sheath it was razory sharp, all too easily removing another swatch of arm forest. The spreadsheet says I bought it in January 2003, and was the third SOG I bought.
And what a triplet, each different in curious ways:
-- the Tech I shows the "SOG Specialty Knives" stamp near the guard, but no SOG Company location stamp below it. On the other side of the blade is stamped "Seki - Japan".
-- one Tech II shows "S.M. CA" below the "SOG Specialty Knives" stamp. On the other side is only the "Seki - Japan" stamp. (S.M. means Santa Monica, CA. Mr SOG himself would have to date this one, it goes way back in ancient history).
-- the other Tech II shows "EDM WA" below the "SOG Specialty Knives" stamp. On the other side is the "Seki - Japan" stamp, and above that a large capital "S".
And I am of the opinion that the Tech II is the second-best looking SOG, the first-best being the Recon Bowie. The Tech I looks good, but the extra length of the Tech II gives it that "special something" in the looks department.
Cheers,
Carl
p.s. and sorry, I have no camera to take pictures. Anyway, I'm sure there's some pics out there, some diligent Google'ing will surely find some great pics.